News and reviews of made on Maui products and Maui-based companies and success stories. Also featuring island shopping guides

Posts tagged ‘Makawao’

2016 Update: I’m hoping to head up to Makawao to scope out all the new stores and coffee shops, but wanted to mention that one of the owners of the beloved brand Queen Bee Productions has just opened her own salon in Makawao, The Honey House, featuring waxing, facials and more! Located just about Droplets., across the street from Casanova.

You know something special is happening when driftwood washes ashore and makes it all the way up the hill to Makawao. And you know it’s something extra special when that DRIFTWOOD turns out to be a brand new boutique by the force behind Paragon Salon, Carrie Gebb. The women’s and home goods shop enjoyed its soft opening on April 30, but the official grand opening will be Sunday, May 3 with 10% off purchases and fun surprises all day.

According to their website, “DRIFTWOOD features carefully curated merchandise for the distinguished buyer, encompassing all that a Maui lifestyle has to offer from the mountain to the sea. We feature women’s clothing and accessories, all-natural beauty products, as well as home goods and edibles.” Their website is worth a look just by itself, with swoon-worthy photographs and an impressive and extensive selection of labels. But I’m not the style expert, if you want to get the scoop from a real fashionista, head on over to mauishopgirl.com to check out her take!

These reversible dresses by SewHiKai are designed to be comfortable, even for girls with sensitivity issues!

And now for the rest of the news from Makawao:

Across the street from DRIFTWOOD, children’s consignment and boutique droplets.is celebrating its first anniversary, and has turned into THE place to buy children’s gifts and clothes, with an ever-growing selection of locally made children’s clothes, including one of our favorites, bitty bambu, and these darling reversible dresses by SewHiKai ——–>, made specifically for children with sensitivity issues (why am I only learning about these now!!!)

And speaking of art galleries, after several years, Kirsten Bunneyclosed down her gallery, but I believe you can still contact her about purchasing art through her website. In the former gallery’s place is now Crystal Harmonics (you may have also seen them on Kauai), with some amazing ‘singing’ crystal bowls! According to the owners, who also offer sound healing, “the singing alchemy bowls are made of the highest grade pure crystal quartz blended with gemstones or other mineral elements. The sine waves of their sound are clear, consistent and sustained and amplify the essence of the minerals as well as expressing their note.” You have to check this place out – you have to HEAR it to believe it, or they have some samples to listen on their website!

In the building just behind Crystal Harmonics, Vanity Salon has been sold and renamed Jewel Salon, but if you are looking for any of the Vanity ladies, Jeffie is now at Haleakala Hair Lounge, (right above DRIFTWOOD), Sara and Trisha are atBeauty Barin Wailuku, and Kourtney is at Salon Tiare in Haiku.

And another cute store that’s new-ish to Makawao is the ‘brother’ store to Pink by Nature– Homme by Nature, which has things for men (get it? Homme means man in French) and home (and some cute kids stuff too).

What’s your favorite place to check out in Makawao?

And a few more pictures from our beautiful day shooting around Makawao…

cute flower shop sign!

designing wahine / sitting men

home to the wind chimes – goodies

the new location of the makawao history museum on Baldwin avenue

beautiful succulents

the world’s (or at least makawao’s) greatest collection of wind chimes at Goodies

And, unlike Maui’s other art capital, Lahaina, most of the art you’ll find in Makawao is actually made on Maui, and you’re more than likely to meet the artist as well. Here is a virtual tour/shopping guide to Makawao’s art galleries.

Art Galleries:

(In Alphabetical Order – click on the name to view the website, if applicable, and click on the shop link to see what’s available to purchase online!)

See the amazing artwork of talented glassblowers Chris Richards and Chris Lowry at this combination gallery and studio. On most days, visitors will find them there creating new pieces right before their eyes. Set back a bit off Baldwin Ave., (near Makawao Steak House), make a point to check out this gallery.

If you’ve been to Lanai in the past decade, you may recall Jordanne’s artwork as the Artist-In-Residence for both Four Seasons Resorts from 2003-2012. In 2012, she moved to Maui to focus on a new collection of work and Plein-Air shows across America. Jordanne is known for her paintings of Hawaiian landscapes, plantation homes, bouquet arrangements and signature gold-leaf pineapple paintings.

The interesting thing about walking into the Julie Galeeva art gallery, right on the corner of Makawao Avenue and Baldwin, is the great variety of works and styles. There’s abstract, impressionist, realist, fantasy… so I asked the guy painting away if this was all Julie’s work, “Yes, she can do anything,” he agreed. He pointed to one corner, “But that’s mine, she lets me have that section… she’s my mom” he added. Wow, two talented artists in this family!

Originally from Australia, Kirsten Bunney has been living and working on Maui since 1987. Kirsten combines pen and ink with gouache and watercolor to express the bright, tropical beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. Kirsten’s unique sense of style and color has been developed from a mix of cross-cultural influences, particularly times spent living in Bali.

Now back where it started- in Makawao, Maui Hands represents over 300 fine artists, artisans, jewelers, woodworkers, glassblowers, potters and sculptors, all 100% local to the state of Hawaii. There’s something in every price range, and don’t miss the jewelry counters. Did we mention the jewelry? Maui Hands has three other locations – Paia, Lahaina and Kaanapali.

If you’ve been around Maui at all, you know the artwork of Sherri Reeve. If not, your next stop in Makawao will change all that. Known for her vibrant and playful watercolors, Reeve opened her Makawao gallery in 1997, where she can often be found greeting her faithful fans and new followers. Her shop is so colorful and cheerful that you just want to stay for a while. Besides wall art, you can find Sherri’s designs on mugs, mousepads, playing cards, soap and more!

Another must-see stop in Makawao is Viewpoints Gallery. There is a constantly changing featured show at this gallery, with the current theme : “It’s all about Hawaii”, which runs June 28 – August 7, 2013, and features the iconic painters Betty Hay Freeland and Suzy Papanikolas. Each artist in this gallery must also be a current resident of the island.

This carefully curated gallery has only been open 4 months, but I hope it will be around for a long time. Just a few of the fun pieces that are made on Maui are Wicked Ono bags, cyanotype on silk pillows and scarves by Gwen Arkin, and these cute journal earrings by Julia Spector.

Wicked Ono Crossbody Bags

Silk Cyanotype Scarves by Gwen Arkin

Cyanotype Silk Pillow by Gwen Arkin

Wicked Ono Bags

Journal Earrings

And another gallery I didn’t get the chance to visit this time: Piero Resta